More than 110 years ago a small group of Christians of all denominations met in the upstairs of an old grist miill on the banks of the Haw River, below the end of the Falls of the Neuse Cotton Mills (later renamed Virginia Mills) until they outgrew the mill and began building their own meeting places. Around 1880 the group of Methodists began meeting in a small one-room building. They were known as Newlin’s Chapel and were part of a 5-point charge along with the Salem, Phillips Chapel, Saxapahaw and Clover Garden Churches.
On November 17, 1887, James N. Phillips deeded land to the church, and the Sanctuary was built in 1888 with two entrances (one was later closed). The Sanctuary has been renovated over the years.
Records show a Sunday School existed in the late 1800’s. Classes met in the corners of the Sanctuary, which had two stoves in it for heat. A boys’ class met in the bell tower for some years. In the early 1900’s, a 2-story classroom section was added behind the Sanctuary; and another 2-story addition was built in 1948 with more classrooms, a kitchen and a fellowship room.
The new Fellowship Building was built in 1997.
The Swepsonville Church became a station charge in 1952 and has had a pastor of its own ever since. The 9-room brick parsonage was built on the present site. (They sold a 5-room frame parsonage which had been built in 1912 and served as the parsonage for the entire charge. It was moved to the lot next door and sold.)